A Room of One's Own

This map plots the settings and references in A Room of One's Own

To start exploring, click a red pin

'Oxbridge'

by ymgeisydd

View of Cambridge from St. John's College - Credit: Bob Tubbs, Wikimedia Commons

Skyline of the City of Oxford - Credit: Wallace Wong, Wikimedia Commons

Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge - Credit: Hans Wolff, Wikimedia Commons

Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge c.1885 - Credit: Cornell University Library, Flickr

Trinity College Hall - Credit: Cornell University Library, Flickr

A Room of One's Own is partly set in the fictional 'Oxbridge', which may be seen as representing both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. However, there are clear indications in the text that specific Cambridge places are being referred to. These include Girton College and the Wren Library at Trinity College. It is also likely that the chapel referred to is the chapel of Trinity College, and that it was in that college the narrator enjoyed her lavish lunch.

Bloomsbury, London

by ymgeisydd

Virginia Woolf's narrator consults books about women in the reading room of the British museum, in the area of London known as Bloomsbury.

The British Museum Reading Room as it is today - Credit: David Iliff, Wikimedia Commons

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46 Gordon Square, the home of Virginia Woolf,1904-07, and later of the economist John Maynard Keynes - Credit: Myrabella, Wikimedia Commons

Bloomsbury is situated in the southern part of the London Borough of Camden. It is home to a great number of academic institutions and hospitals, including the University of London Senate House Library, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College Hospital.

It is renowned for its attractive garden squares, such as Russell Square, Tavistock Square, and Gordon Square. Virginia Woolf lived at 46 Gordon Square between 1904 and 1907, along with her sister Vanessa, and brothers Adrian and Thoby.

Many of the intellectuals, writers and artists who formed the Bloomsbury Group – of which Virginia Woolf and other members of her family were prominent members – lived in this part of London in the early 20th century.

When Woolf's narrator leaves the British Museum she walks home through the Admiralty Arch. and along Whitehall to reach her 'home by the river'. This suggests that she lived either in, or in the vicinity of, the area illustrated by the map below in the London Borough known as the City of Westminster:

Page 9. " if left to fight for existence on the pavement of the Strand "

by ymgeisydd

The Strand, London - Credit: Bernard Gagnon, Wikimedia Commons

The Strand in the City of Westminster in London is a busy street which extends from Trafalgar Square to Temple Bar.

Here, the narrator is stressing the rarefied, artificial, ivory-towerish atmosphere of Academia. She suggests that its members are ill-equipped to cope with the harsh realities of life symbolised by the Strand.

Page 24. " Flaunting in the sun at Monte Carlo? "

by ymgeisydd

Lithograph by Alfons Mucha (1897) - Credit: Alfons Mucha

Monte Carlo is situated in the principality of Monaco on the eastern edge of the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur). From the mid nineteenth century onwards (along with other Riviera towns such as Cannes and Nice), it became a fashionable holiday destination for members of the British upper classes and for various writers and artists.

Page 45. " Walk through the Admiralty Arch "

by ymgeisydd

Admiralty Arch, London - Credit: Mister Weiss, Wikimedia Commons

Admiralty Arch is part of a large office building in London which adjoins the Old Admiralty Building. It is situated at the point where The Mall meets Trafalgar Square.

Page 56. " where the omnibuses now stop outside the Elephant and Castle "

by ymgeisydd

London horse-drawn omnibus (1902) - Credit: Henry Charles Moore

A motorised omnibus in the London Transport Museum - Credit: Les Chatfield, Flickr

Omnibuses were originally horse-drawn public carriages, the first of which was established by George Shillibeer in 1829. They were initially also known as 'Shillibeer's' and later on as 'buses'. The era of the horse-drawn omnibus finally came to a close in 1911, after which the service was motorised.

The Elephant and Castle (known colloquially as 'The Elephant') is the name given to a road intersection in the London borough of Southwark. It is also the name given to the surrounding area.

Page 75. " in the fourpenny boxes in the Charing Cross Road "

by ymgeisydd

The Charing Cross Road is a street in London where numerous bookshops, selling both new and second-hand books, may be found.

One of the bookshops on this road, Marks & Co., was partly the setting for the 1987 film 84 Charing Cross Road which was based on Helene Hanff's true story of the same name.

1937 penny - Credit: Welkinridge, Wikimedia Commons

1943 threepenny bit - Credit: Welkinridge, Wikimedia Commons

The 'fourpenny boxes' would have been those containing the cheapest books. Fourpence in pre-decimal coinage would be approximately 1.66 new pence in present-day coinage.

In the old coinage, fourpence could be made up of 4 separate pennies, 8 halfpennies, or a penny and a threepenny bit.